08/03/2011

DFRC #4: Initiating a Short Sale

Faced with no other apparent options, I sadly came to the realization that I needed to sell the condo. The short sale paperwork was initiated but frankly, it didn't feel real.

Ironically, once I stopped paying the mortgage, Bank of America wanted to talk with me - all the time, every day, and often more than once. Talk about ridiculous and annoying. A switch flipped and now they wanted to talk?

At first the calls were really annoying. Calls were made to my home and office numbers. The ironic thing is that they have to include a phone # for caller ID (to comply with the Truth in Caller ID Act of 2010) so once you recognize it, you can easily ignore.

A friend of mine who had dealt with these types of calls, had some fabulous suggestions on how to make this harrassment a little less annoying and a little more fun. Can you say "cat and mouse"?

Most of the time I ignored the calls. When I would occasionally answer, I asked the questions instead of the unhelpful rep on the end of a auto dialer line. "Is there something new you can tell me?" I would ask. "Is the bank going to work with me to refi?"

Given the only answer that these folks could provide was "No", I would end the call simply saying that we had nothing else to talk about.

I'm not sure what BofA thinks they'll accomplish by calling so much. Somehow, magically, one of the many first level, call center team members will convince me to change my decision? The art of persuasion and negotiation is definitely not a job requirment for any of these folks.